Beginnings
by Yugiyasha96
Summary: You begin as newborn within an egg about to hatch. You know only of the rhythm of life within yourself, the wall made of love without yourself, and the voice that gently whispers truth into your mind each day. But how did you come to be? What were your beginnings before you knew yourself? Prequel to the game. Contains some spoilers. Rating for scenes of violence in nature.
1. Intro

I'm back again with something different this time. This story comes from one of my very favorite PC games called Golden Treasure: The Great Green. It is a hand painted adventure game, the outcome of which is determined by your choices as you play through the life of a hatchling Draak-Kin.

For those of you who probably won't play the game for yourselves, feel free to read on from here. It will help you understand my story a little bit better. For anyone who thinks they might like to play the game and experience it firsthand for themselves, go ahead and stop here so the game isn't spoiled for you and come back when you've played it. I encourage anyone who's interested to check it out because it is quite the experience. Now, a synopsis for those unfamiliar with Golden Treasure.

The Draak are a wise and powerful race of Wyvern-like dragons. You begin the game still within your egg just as you become aware of yourself. At first, you feel only your rhythm of life within yourself and the wall of your egg encasing your growing body without, until a loving song touches your mind and a voice within the song speaks to you. It teaches you things about the world into which you will soon hatch and you begin to make decisions within your egg that will affect the rest of your life. You learn from the voice that it is your Mother, or Birther-Creator and it is preparing you to live your life alone in the world after you emerge from your egg.

Right before you hatch, the voice departs for what is supposed to be a final time, only to return in a flash of raw emotion to warn you about a threat in the world. Humans, or No-Tails as the Draak call them, are another race of sentient beings that do not live by the laws of the natural world. They bend nature to their own will and tame the wild things with tools and fences. The Draak have differing views on how these beings should be handled and few agree on their true purpose. Throughout the game it's up to you to develop your own feelings of compassion, hate, or indifference toward them and decide their fate.

My story follows the events leading up to the opening scene of the game and gives some backstory to the mother and father of the character you play as. I will be uploading one of the three parts every day for the next three days. I hope you all enjoy it and I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the story

Enjoy!


	2. Part I

The yellowed grass bowed low before the rush of downward wind as the massive Draak-kin landed gracefully on the hillside. She was known as The Emerald Flame, guardian of the Great Green and fang of the mighty spirit within. For hundreds of turnings she had ruled her land and was respected as a mighty elder. None would give anything less to the one the mighty Spirit of the Great Green called its beloved fang. Now however, she was not in her lands. She had made the long flight to this foreign territory of another Kin for a very important reason and she was anxious to get the meeting of formality over with so she could continue her mission. The Emerald Flame gave the traditional piercing Song of Annunciation to let the Kin of whose territory she was in now, know of her approach. In moments, the sun was darkened as the other Draak landed just as gracefully on the hill across from her.

Darktooth. Another great kin and elder in his own right. His flesh still bore the deep blue coloring of the Sapphire clan to whom he belonged even though he had long since abandoned his home in the Great Blue for this one in the dry grasslands. He had been named for the large dark fang that protruded from his upper jaw, a memory crystal that one day would pass on his great knowledge to the Kin that found it upon his death. It was not unlike the white crystal fang The Emerald Flame carried within her own jaw.

For a long moment, both merely sat on their respective hillsides and stared at each other, both with their heads held high and wings slightly aloft. Any goodbeasts in the areas, whether they be of fur, scale or feather, had fled the area immediately the moment the first Draak had made itself known. Thus, there was not even the buzz of a Tiny Being to break the tense silence that reigned between the two Draak and tense it was. One was never guaranteed safety while in the lands of another for all Kin are rivals and ready to fight at the first provocation; no matter the history between them.

Finally, Darktooth relaxed and lowered his wings, sprawling his deep blue body over the warm rocks and signaling he had no intent to attack The Emerald Flame for her intrusion. Only after she did the same did he finally sing into her mind.

"So, it is time, Emerald Flame of the Great Green?"

"Yes", she replied. "For yet another season we have both kept the second great law of our kind. From the joining of our essences have been created two to carry on our legacy."

Darktooth rumbled deep his chest, a sound of satisfaction that made the ground beneath him tremble. "Then according to tradition, I grant you permission to nest them both in my territory here in Heartbone Valley. I will impart knowledge to them when they leave the embrace of the earth and send them out to carry on the ways of the Draak wherever they will settle."

The Emerald Flame rumbled as well, though hers held a strong note of dissatisfaction. "I hold no great ties to all the aspects of tradition as you do Darktooth. We live in a world changing under the oppression of the No-Tails who imprison and enslave the goodbeasts of the land and who scar the flesh of the earth with their shinestone tools. You have been lax and allowed them to prosper too much in your territory which I believe makes it unsafe to nest our offspring in."

"You doubt my capabilities to defend my own lands and the soon-to-be hatchlings within", Darktooth growled, thumping his tail angrily against the ground.

"What other explanation would there be to allow those cursed creatures to infest your lands like as many unwanted parasites", Emerald Flame snarled back, getting to her feet and leveling Darktooth with a menacing stare.

"Your nearsightedness unbecomes you, Emerald Flame of the Great Green. You have allowed your hatred of the No-Tails to blind you to their role in the Onesong as all living beings have one. The No-Tails are meant to be here. I have seen a purpose in their future and I have still seen a bright future for us in spite of them. Do not deceive yourself, O Emerald Flame. I bear no great love for this strange race, but I find more wisdom in watching and observing then in undue destruction."

"Undue", Emerald Flame growled incredulously.

"Yes, undue", Darktooth answered. "Would you raze a family of Surefoots or Clansingers to the ground for the sole reason of seeing their essence water the earth's flesh? Would you not call that undue destruction? I see the destruction of the No-Tails as no different. They dare not encroach too far into my lands for fear of me and it will remain that way for the foreseeable future as long as I allow them their lands to inhabit. Our hatchlings will be safe here and it is here they must hatch. You know as well as I that it is not merely a matter of tradition, but a matter of their survival. Your instincts to protect will fade when the time comes for them to hatch and you will leave them with gaps still in their knowledge. Always it has then been the duty of the Giver-Creator to impart that knowledge and fill those gaps."

Emerald Flame snorted a blast of fireseed on the ground, scorching the dry grass under the intense heat. "Do not think to compare the No-Tails to the noble goodbeasts of my Great Green. They are wrong. They do not follow the ways of the Onesong. What you call wisdom I call folly. Nonetheless I am not foolish enough to deny that hatching our offspring here does serve a valuable purpose to their growth. However, it is my duty to ensure that they have a safe place to nest before they emerge from the earth and if you will not make that safe place for them then I will."

Emerald Flame drove her wings down in a flurry of angry dust and then banked off to other reaches of the dark Kin's territory.

Darktooth watched the retreating form of Emerald Flame. He disagreed with her course of action and saw it leading to more danger, not safety for their offspring. He was also angry that would be so bold as to make such decisions that could negatively affect his territory for the future. However, he would let her take the path she deemed right for their creations and would not interfere for her good or ill. The Emerald Flame's fate was in her own claws now.

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	3. Part II

**Happy Halloween everyone! Hope everyone is having a Spooktacular (Cliché I know but c'mon it's hilarious!) day and you all get to eat lots of your favorite candy! If you dressed up, comment and tell me what you were! **

**Hope you enjoy part 2 and once again, Happy Halloween!**

The great green Draak flew many leagues from Darktooth's home. She disliked No-Tails deeply on the best of days, but her instincts to protect the two eggs that would be the future of her and Darktooth made the hatred even more intense. They were not like the other goodbeasts. They were wrong in form and smell and unpredictable in action. They should not be and she vowed she would not allow them to exist, at least near where she would be forced to nest her future.

She knew already where she would hide the two inside her while they grew and she also knew of the small No-Tail settlement near the places. They could not remain there. She would not allow it. Thus, when the settlement loomed into sight, the Emerald Flame tucked her wings and landed right outside of it. She flared her wings to the dying sun and roared out a challenge.

"In the name of future generations, I claim this land to raise my offspring. Leave this land peacefully or face the fire inside me when I drive you from this place. You know you stand no chance against my might. Flee! Flee now while you can!"

The enslaved Clansingers belonging to the No-Tails had begun yelping out a warning at The Emerald Flame's roar and a flock of No-Tail givers poured from their dwellings, shouting urgently in their language and scurrying about like a troupe of ants. The givers covered their bodies with coverings of shinestone and formed lines in front of her, shouting in their strange tongue and brandishing stone-toothed sticks at her.

"So you have chosen to die", The Emerald flame snarled. "So be it!"

With that she launched herself back into the air and circled around the village. As she passed by, she pulled a great ball of fireseed into her maw and released it into the middle of the village where it ignited the houses with a deafening explosion. Instantly screams of No-Tail birthers and hatchlings filled the air while the No-Tail givers shouted to each other again in their strange tongue. Within moments the stone-toothed sticks flew through the air, striking The Emerald Flame's tough flesh. Most bounced off harmlessly, but the few that found weak spots in her armor pierced deep and served to only enrage her even more. These beasts would die this night!

She looped easily around and made another fiery pass through the houses. The scent of essence began to waft in the heated air and she knew she was prevailing. Soon their strange dwellings would be returned to the earth from whence they came to fuel new life. Proper life. Life that followed the order of the Onesong as they should and did not seek to disrupt its flow. With each blast of fireseed she delivered, the shouts and screams grew fainter and fainter until all the sound that was left was the crackling of the No-Tail's hive-like lairs under the night sky. The Emerald Flame landed with a loud crash amongst the burning houses and released a defiant roar into the night.

"I claim this territory to birth my future and the future of my race", she cried into the Onesong, wings lifted to the stars. "If there be any more who challenge my temporary rule over this land, then let them come forth and do so now."

The night remained silent but for the popping of the fire around her. If anything yet lived around her, it didn't dare move or breathe in her presence. She lowered her wings and stared in triumph at what remained of the battle field. She had won in a True Dance of Destruction against these No-Tails that would have threatened the safety of her offspring. Perhaps some had escaped to the other No-Tail settlements, but they were none of her concern. She had properly issued a challenge and they had chosen the path of destruction. In accordance to their wishes, they had been destroyed. Their territory was now hers and her offspring could grow in relative safety.

Under the soft song of the moonlight and the stars, The Emerald Flame travelled to the hatching place of her first offspring. It was a quiet pond into which flowed a trickling waterfall. Behind the waterfall was a small indent in the wall, not even enough to be called a cave, but enough for the precious package she carried. The Emerald Flame placed her open maw inside the hole and allowed the first egg within her to flow out of the special holding stomach in which she had put it after she had laid it a few days before. Inside she could feel the consciousness of the tiny Draak-Kin beginning to develop. As of yet it was not even aware of itself, but soon it would be and then she could begin to teach it about the world into which it would be born. She would then return home right before it hatched and leave the rest of the teaching to Darktooth. After that, the hatchling's fate would be in its own claws and whether it succeeded or was destroyed would be up its abilities and wisdom.

All that was yet to come however. This Draak was not ready to be taught yet. It still had much growing to do and she had another egg to nest before the night ended. This one she flew up to a high ridge that overlooked Heartbone Valley. The back of the outcropping opened into a deep cave where a steam bubbled merrily along. In this cave, underneath the roots that twisted down from a tree growing above, she gently deposited her second egg. Here would both rest and grow until they became too large for their shelterings and they broke into the large new world in which they would live.

Her task accomplished, The Emerald Flame glided gently down to the base of the ridge and found a comfortable nesting place between her two eggs. This was how things should be in the world. Natural and right.

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	4. Part III

**Last posting for this story everyone. I hope you enjoyed even though I'm sure most of you weren't familiar with the genre. It's certainly a game ripe for fanfictions and I hope to do many more on it in the future. Be sure to let me know how you liked it. Reading reviews is my favorite part of posting on FanFiction!**

**Enjoy part 3!**

For the next two weeks, The Emerald Flame made multiple trips back and forth every day to check on the wellbeing of her eggs and the growing Draak within. Their consciousnesses were both steadily growing and maturing with each passing day as were their small bodies. The Emerald Flame had gently and distantly wrapped her own mind around those of the growing young. She allowed the song of herself to envelope each one carefully and softly to help them form their subconscious and aid their growth. Then, on the seventeenth day since The Emerald Flame had nested both the eggs, the Draak beneath the waterfall awoke to itself. The Emerald Flame sensed the moment it could feel the rhythm within its body and feel the inner wall of the egg pressing without its body. It was finally ready to be taught.

Gently, as only the young one's own Birther-Creator could, The Emerald Flame pressed against the small one's mind and it reached back with curiosity and enthusiasm. The emerald Draak birther roared with elation, an action that the tiny being in the egg perceived as a bright flash of warm color and a sensation of pure joy. She was very careful to limit the small one's exposure to too many emotions, however. This teaching process in the egg was extremely delicate as the young Draak's mind could very easily be overwhelmed and its development inhibited. The Emerald Flame knew how to do this though. She had birthed many Draak over the years she had lived and had long since mastered the art of egg instruction.

She retreated some from the mind of her offspring in the egg after it had learned of the emotion joy. That was enough for its first day of consciousness. She remained connected enough for it to continue to hear her song and grow familiar with it, however. It was the same song that would begin to flow through and out of this young one once it hatched, the True Song of a Draak-Kin being, and hearing it would help it as it began to connect with itself.

The very next day the second young Draak became aware of itself as well and The Emerald Flame repeated the careful process with it too. She let the tiny being inside the egg know of her elation in its life, and then carefully retreated to the edges of its consciousness to let it contemplate this first new thing in its life.

The days continued to pass and the mighty green Draak likewise continued to teach her growing young. She showed them emotions first, elaborating on joy some more and adding in such things as contentment, pride, anger, and sadness. She also taught them the way which Draak respond to such things that they felt within themselves.

Then she taught them of the earth in which they were to be born and the great features of it. She taught them of tree, stone, stream, and sea and of the soil, flesh of the earth, that, from the essence of the sun, supported all life and gave rise to all the green things. Together, the sun and earth were the greatest birther and giver union and the Draak only right below them in greatness.

The next lesson was of the other goodbeasts that would inhabit the world around them. Some were of fur, others of feather, others of scale, and still others of fin. All were good and all, in their own good way, followed closely the two great laws or perished.

The first great law was that all goodbests destroyed in some way to sustain their own life. Some like the Longear and Surefoot destroyed the fruits of the earth and drew their sustenance from them. Others like the Slideclaws, Clansingers, and the Draak-Kin themselves were destroyers of things of flesh. They could not survive on the green or sweet things birthed from the soil and had to partake of the essence of others to sustain life. All ways were good and natural and should not be feared, but embraced and loved as it was a part of themselves.

The second great law was that all goodbeasts created and were of one of two natures; givers and birthers. Within each goodbeast of either nature resided a special essence that, when combined with that same essence from another of opposite nature, had the ability to produce new life and give rise to new generations that would carry on the ways of their ancestors. No goodbeast clan would survive if their members did not create for the future and thus it was the responsibility of all born to someday partake in the same Dance of Creation from which they arose.

Finally, The Emerald Flame taught her offspring about the third law. It was not great and they did not have to follow it to live but, if they did not, they would not have choice pick of mates with which to do the Dance of Creation and would not be respected members of the Draak race. This lesser law stated that they must seek treasures once they emerged into the world. In accordance to the good way of the Draak, greatness and desirability was judged on the treasures that one collected. Only the wisest and strongest could collect a great hoard of treasure, thus it ensured that the best Draak combined their essence and sent that strength and wisdom into the future to strengthen the coming generations. Not all goodbeasts picked mates this way, but it was the Draak way and it was good.

Once these laws were imparted into the minds of both the young, The Emerald Flame began to withdraw permanently. For the first time and forevermore they would be completely without her song. Their times of hatching were coming close and her instincts to protect were beginning to fade. It was time for these two younglings to prove themselves on their own for good or ill. They would survive or they would fail by their own power, as all Draaks must. She felt no sadness nor sense of loss as she left the eggs alone for their last hours before hatching, for things had to move forward at the appropriate times. The time of egg learning had passed and the time for the hatchlings to practice what they now knew had come.

The Emerald Flame carefully erased every trace of her presence from the area including her scent so that no goodbeasts that destroyed eggs would suspect there were some hidden in the area and consume them before they hatch. It would be her last act of protection for her offspring before she would leave them completely. Once she was done, The Emerald Flame spread her wings and took to the sky, banking toward her home in the Great Green. She had to reach her home by nightfall for, after that, she would no longer be freely welcome in Darktooth's territory now that her task of instructing the eggs had been completed. Her and Darktooth would once again become no more than rivals to each other until next mating season. If they still found one another acceptable, then they might possibly mate again. If not, they would do the Dance of Creation with new partners and repeat the process again. For now though, it was time for her to return home and guard over the Great Green, as was her duty as its fang.

Only minutes had passed since she flew by the outcropping where the second of her eggs resided, when suddenly a shrill whistle sounded to her keen hearing followed instantly by a sharp pain in her neck. She roared in pain and her wings failed her as a fiery numbness spread throughout her body. The great Draak tumbled limply to the ground where she landed hard and painfully in the underbrush. She struggled to move and even to breathe, failing in one and only being partially successful in the other. Through the agonizing fog that gripped her, she only barely made out the triumphant yips, whoops, and shouts as dozens of No-Tails leapt from the bushes around her. Long, braided cords of reeds were thrown over her body, tied around her snout, and knotted around her wings. The sight of her bound to the earth seemed to excite the No-Tails even more however, for their bellowing got louder and many now found the courage to dance within reaching distance of her claws and teeth, yelling and chanting and stabbing at her eyes and underbelly with their stone-toothed sticks.

Raw white fury overtook her senses. This was not a True Dance of Destruction, as she had afforded them all those days ago. No challenge had been issued as was the proper way of things and they did not fight with fairness to all sides. This way, their way, was cowardly and wrong, just as they themselves were. The Emerald Flame struggled to the best of her ability which, in her current situation, amounted to no more than a lash of her tail which was quickly roped and held down as well, and a choked eruption of fireseed from her maw that caught in her throat and burned her as well as the No-Tails. It gave her no small amount of satisfaction to see several of her attackers fall to her fire though.

Suddenly the shouting around her stopped and she looked up to see a tall No-Tail, clothed in richer shinestone than any of the rest, stepping up to her. The other No-Tails began to beat the ends of their long stone-toothed sticks against the ground in a rhythmic pattern that grew faster and faster the closer the armored No-Tail got to her. Then, when he stood before the end of her snout, he drew a long shinestone fang from the pouch at his waist. He pointed it at her neck and began to shout in the language of the No-Tails.

The Emerald Flame's very core writhed against this wrongness as her body longed to do the same had she been able to move. Never would she feel the wind in her feathers again as she flew the high reaches of the heavens in complete freedom. Never would she experience the thrill of a victorious hunt after a True and Just Dance of Destruction nor experience the pleasure of a pure Dance of Creation. She would not know a peaceful day spent under the boughs of the tree where the Spirit of the Great green resided, their essences merged into one mighty being while their senses guarded their beloved forests. She could not even have the pride to say she was bested in an honorable Dance of Destruction while she fought with all her might to prevail. No, she was to be slaughtered mercilessly while tied to the ground in a cowardly trap set by No-Tail vermin. This was a fate no Draak-Kin should ever have to experience and yet here she lay, powerless to stop it.

The armored No-Tail had stopped speaking now and his shinestone fang was lifted over her chest, ready to be driven into her heart. Her life was over, she knew, but two lives made from hers yet remained. Thus with her last moments, she flung her mind out to touch the two youglings that yet lived inside their eggs.

"Beware the Other-Seed, the No-Tails, the Flatfaces", she cried into their minds.

The fang shone with a wicked light against the dying sun.

"Beware their terrible music!"

The fang began to descend.

"Beware the seed of the Others!"

The fang drew closer.

"Beware…"

Red essence shouted crimson upon the ground whilst a loud cheer went up from the surrounding No-Tails. Thus, The Emerald Flame and beloved fang of the Great Green was returned to the earth by the hands of the No-Tails. Her essence would feed the grass, which would feed the goodbeasts, which would then someday feed the next generation of Draak-Kin.

So, whose way was just and whose unjust? Was the destruction of the No-Tails by The Emerald Flame or their subsequent destruction of her in vengeance the good way or the evil way? What of the young offspring about to hatch from their eggs to begin their own lives in the great earth? Will they survive and grow to the greatness they were destined for? If they do what way will they choose?

None can say but you, for this now becomes your story to tell. Emerge from your egg in the cave beneath the roots of the trees above and forge your own path. Carry the legacy of those before you into the future and become who you were meant to be. This is your way, the good way of a Draak-Kin.

May you be blessed.

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